2 ) F O O T B I N D I N Gfoot binding

FOR OVER 1000 YEARS, FOOT BINDING WAS A POPULAR PRACTICE FOR YOUNG GIRLS IN CHINA. IT WAS THOUGHT OF AS A FASHION STATEMENT, AND SO, MANY YOUNG GIRLS WENT THROUGH THIS LONG, PAINFUL PROCEDURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THESE SMALL DESIRABLE FEET.

FOOT BINDING WAS EVENTUALLY BANNED IN 1915 BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT.

3 ) S E L F M U M M I F I C A T I O N self mummification

THE BUDDHIST MONK OR PRIEST WHO WOULD TAKE PART IN THIS RITUAL WOULD START OFF BY EATING ONLY NUTS AND SEEDS, AND FOR THREE YEARS (1 000 DAYS TO BE PRECISE), THE PARTICIPANT WOULD DO WHATEVER IT TOOK TO STRIP THEM OF ALL THEIR BODILY FATS. AFTER THE 3 YEARS IS UP, THE MOISTURE AND FAT IN THEIR BODIES WOULD BE AT IT'S MINIMAL AMOUNT.

AS CRAZY AS IT MAY SOUND, THE PARTICIPANT THEN GOES ON ANOTHER DIET CONSISTING OF BARK AND ROOTS FOR ANOTHER 3 YEARS. THEY ALSO DRINK A TOXIC TEA THAT CAUSES THEM TO VOMIT UP WHATEVER LITTLE SUBSTANCE IS LEFT IN THEIR BODIES.

AFTER THIS MARATHON OF EXTREME STARVATION, THE MONK OR PRIEST WOULD LOCK HIMSELF IN A TOMB, THE ONLY FORM OF SUSTENANCE BEING A SMALL AIR TUBE THAT ALLOWED HIM TO BREATHE. EACH DAY, THE PARTICIPANT WOULD RING A BELL SIGNALING THAT THEY WERE STILL ALIVE. ASSUMING THAT THE PARTICIPANT WAS DEAD AFTER THE BELL CEASED TO RING, THE TOMB WOULD BE SEALED OFF

IF YOU'RE A BOY, AND YOU LIVE AMONG THE SATERE-MAWE TRIBE IN BRAZIL, BECOMING A MAN IS ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL PROCESS ONE COULD IMAGINE.

THIS PROCESS INVOLVES WEARING A GLOVE ON EACH HAND FILLED WITH BULLET ANTS (WHO, BY THE WAY, HAVE ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL STINGS IN NATURE) FOR 10MIN AT A TIME. THIS PROCESS IS THEN REPEATED 19 MORE TIMES BEFORE THE PARTICIPANT IS WELCOMED INTO MAN-HOOD.

B E L O W A R E T H E W O R D S O F A R E P O R T E R N A M E D S T E V E B A C K S H A L L , W H O U N D E R T O O K T H I S E X C R U C I A T I N G R I T U A L .“I put my hands into the gloves. Actually, it wasn’t that bad: pretty unpleasant, but bearable; just like the single sting, but repeated over and over again. I stuck it out for the full 10 minutes. [... M]y crew took me out of the line-up and off to get some medical tests done[.] That’s when things started to go wrong. I had suffered several hundred stings, and all of a sudden I went beyond pain. First, I started wailing, then, once that had passed, the floodgates opened — deep, guttural sobbing, uncontrollable shaking, writhing, convulsing. I started to drool, and suddenly I wasn’t responding to anything at all. My legs wouldn’t hold me up, and our doctor was shouting at me to keep moving and not to give in to the urge to lie down and let it take me. If there’d been a machete to hand, I’d have chopped off my arms to escape the pain.”